The NRL has granted the Perth Bears up to $500,000 worth of salary cap concessions to compete in the fight against PNG Chiefs.
The latest NRL expansion club with receive compensation from the NRL to help them alleviate the pressure with recruitment and retention, according to reports by NewsCorp.
Existing club sponsors for the Bears can top-up players' contracts in a third-party agreement in upwards of 20%.
It will kick-off when the club enters the competition in 2027 and will be in effect for three years to help integrate the club into the NRL landscape.
For example, if Perth signs a player on a $1 million contract, they could earn $1.2 million per year, with the extra $200,000 able to exist legally outside of their salary cap.
It comes as the Australian government and the Papua New Guinea government came to an agreement with the NRL for players signing with the Chiefs to earn tax-free dollars as an incentive to move to the expansion side.
The Bears were left with their arms in the air, asking for answers as they are separated from Australia's busy East Coast by a five-hour flight across the country.
An argument could be made that they are more isolated than the Chiefs are, but have yet to receive any benefits until now.
It gives the Bears a fighting chance to sign a marquee player, similar to the stature of Jarome Luai's highly publicised move to the Chiefs for 2028.
The proposed concessions includes:
- No player receiving more than 20 percent above his contract value;
- The Bears receiving overall salary cap concessions of up to $500,000;
- The amount of players eligible for the concessions is unlimited, provided the total stays beneath $500,000;
- The proposal is generally aimed at players who are offered $1 million a season; and
- The concessions will last over the club's first three years.
The Bears have yet to land a marquee talent for their maiden season next year, but that is set to change.
They have built a talented maiden roster, with plenty of hard-working players who will do a good job for coach Mal Meninga, but still without a superstar signing to spearhead their 2027 assault.
Reports indicate they have signed gun half Jamie Humphreys, but official confirmation is yet to be seen.
There aren't too many high-profile players unsigned for next year to make the immediate switch for 2027.
Some, including Cody Walker, Gehamat Shibasaki, Luciano Leilua, Kodi Nikorima, Sam Verrills and Te Maire Martin are all free agents for next year.
With a plethora of Penrith Panthers talent coming off-contract at the end of 2027, the door is now ajar to have a star player make their way to the West Coast.
Some names include Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Nathan Cleary, Moses Leota, Isaiah Papali'i, Brian To'o, Blaize Talagi, Paul Alamoti, and the new salary cap incentives might be enough to get them over the line for Perth.
Given their elite status in the game, there's no-doubt the Panthers will try to lock up as many of their stars as their salary cap allows them to, but history suggests in premiership-winning sides, you can't keep everyone.
The Bears will kick-off their preseason training in November this year to prepare for their inaugural season.
Maybe I’m missing something, but this derisory $500K per season does not – in my eyes – put the Bears “on an even playing field” with the PNG Chiefs.”
The salary cap will be $11.7M and the incremental tax rate for anyone on $190K or more is 45%.
So a guy on $500K at the Chiefs pays $0 tax. His take-home pay is $500K
The same guy at the Bears would pay $52,000 on the first $200K and 45% of the next $300K (ie $135K) So his take-home pay is about $500K-$52K-$135K ie $310K
The Bears have an extra $500K to spread across 30 players in the squad.
After tax at 45% that $500K is worth just $275K.
Spread that between 30 players and it is worth less than $10K per head.
Not much difference to players who are already paying a huge amount of tax.